Landing a winning double caps off a good day for any trainer, but for Alice Springs-based trainer Paul Gardner last Saturday bordered on the extraordinary.
Stablemates Roughly and Hard Work Rewards prevailed, but what makes their success so amazing is that the former is a 10-year-old mare and the latter is a nine-year-old mare.
Both horses were superb with Roughly ($2.80) blitzing her rivals in open company over 1400m and Hard Work Rewards ($2.30 fav) sneaking home over 1600m (0-64).
Darwin jockey Sonja Wiseman partnered Gardner’s ageless pair and produced two faultless rides.
Wiseman now has 15 winners and holds a significant advantage over Jessie Philpot (9) in the Alice Springs jockeys’ premiership standings.
Roughly trailed stablemate Fair Go (Lek Maloney) before making her move leaving the back straight at the same time Supreme Attraction (Stan Tsaikos), an impressive winner over 1200m in open company the previous week in a race where Roughly finished third, started to make a move three wide.
Down the side Fair Go lost touch and had Lunch Session (Paul Denton) and Coin Collector (Phillip Crich) for company, while Roughly held sway over Supreme Attraction turning for home.
In the end it was a procession as Roughly (61kg) kicked at the 200m to win by five lengths from Supreme Attraction ($1.95 fav) and Lunch Session ($7).
Alice Springs R4 replay | November 26, 2022 | Roughly (1st)
Roughly, who has now had 58 starts for 16 wins, had never raced beyond 1300m before saluting over 1400m in September and 1600m in October for previous trainer Leah Walling-Denton, and she has now had further wins over 1600m and 1400m in November for Gardner.
“Roughly is amazing, she’s a 10-year-old mare and she had almost two years off in the paddock,” Gardner said.
“She always had leg issues with tendons and that, so I never raced her much back in the early days.
“At the moment, touch wood, she’s sound and loving life, so I couldn’t be happier.”
Personal issues saw Gardner transfer Roughly to the stable of Phil Cole in Darwin in July 2019 after taking a break from training.
Over the next three years, Roughly had two stints with Cole and Red Centre trainers Carly Cook and Leah Walling-Denton for eight wins from 24 starts – and since July the daughter of Kaphero has had 12 starts from 1100-1600m for six wins and four minor placings.
Gardner returned to the training ranks on November 5 – ending a 40 month hiatus – after being granted an owner-trainer licence by Thoroughbred Racing Northern Territory.
It proved a special day as Roughly saluted over 1600m.
Hard Work Rewards’ story is even more remarkable as she has only had 16 starts in a career that started in Alice Springs in September 2016.
“Hard Work Rewards was off the scene for five years,” Gardner said.
“I bought her at the Alice Springs Yearling Sales and then sent her to South Australia to get educated, then brought her back.
“She always showed a lot of ability as a three and four-year-old, so I took her to Darwin for a race in July 2017 and she slipped at the start and missed the kick to finish fifth.
“Anyway, she came back after the race and she was lame on her back offside fetlock, so the next day we had her x-rayed and she had a slab fracture.
“The vet in Darwin had a vet from Sydney coming to operate on a couple of horses at his place.
“He said bring her out and we’ll show the Sydney vet the x-rays and if she can pin it and screw it we’ll save her.
“Anyway, we did that, they operated, she had to have at least 12 months off, which didn’t matter at the time because she was only young.”
Hard Work Rewards actually had a foal during her absence.
“I worked on Hard Work Rewards and obviously took her out of retirement and just slowly worked her up and it was about five months before she had her first gallop, but she went well, so we thought we’d give her a go and it’s paid off,” Gardner added.
Returning in July, the daughter of Magnus had one start for Cole in Alice for a sixth before having six starts for Walling-Denton – which included a first up win over 1200m (0-64) in August.
That was Hard Work Rewards’ first-ever win after seven previous starts, and it was also the first win for Alice Springs apprentice Dakota-Lee Gillett.
Hard Work Rewards, who was making her third start on Saturday since returning to the Gardner stable, settled in second place when they jumped trailing Tredici (Jessie Philpot) before ending up at the rear in the field of five along the back straight.
At the 800m, Wiseman released the hand-brake as the field started to bunch up with Hard Work Rewards circling the field down the side with 400m to go and once rounding the final bend found clear air and the lead before setting sail for home.
Mi Mijo (Ianish Luximon), who sat behind Tredici along the rails, and The Chaplain (Paul Denton), who couldn’t find a gap down the side before winding up down the outside in the home straight, couldn’t bridge the gap.
Alice Springs R5 replay | November 19, 2022 | Hard Work Rewards (1st)
It took Hard Work Rewards eight races to make it two career wins, but it got awfully close after edging out the runner up Mi Mijo ($3.50) and The Chaplain ($3.10) with half a length separating the trio.
“I said to Sonja that Hard Work Rewards doesn’t usually begin that well and she actually began nicely yesterday, but they all wanted to get around her and Sonja didn’t pull her back – she just let her drift back and let them go around her,” Gardner said.
“I thought she’d go really well when I saw her moving into the race between the 700 and 600.
“Sonja is riding with very good touch at the moment and it’s hard to get jockeys that ride that well, they sort of get on that crest and whatever she’s doing at the moment she’s doing it really well.”
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